Saving Gideon (The Angel Chronicles Book 1)

by Mary May

  She stopped and reached for her bottle of water on the night stand, grabbing it without even searching for it. After she took a few swallows, she continued. “I was so startled I almost fell out of bed! He then basically told me He was giving me a choice. I could continue on as I was, unhappy and bitter and making everyone around me miserable as well, or I could turn my life over to Him and let Him create something beautiful out of the ruins. I didn’t have to think on it very long. I couldn’t go on any longer like I was. I was going to end up trying to kill myself again and I would make darn sure I was successful.”

  She gave a huge yawn, and he knew she was getting tired, but he had to know how God had fixed her.

  “Don’t worry, big guy, I’m not going to leave you hanging! That night I gave everything I had and everything I was to the Lord, every scar every broken dream, all my hurts and shattered heart. He took it all! Now I still have my external scars, but that’s ok. When He took away my destroyed insides, my destroyed outsides didn’t matter anymore to me. I felt Him lift me up out of that dark place I was in. He brought such a beautiful light into my soul, and I felt like I could fly! I had hope again! It’s a very sad and dangerous place to be…without hope. The rest of that of night I could feel Him pulling out all the junk I had built up in my heart. One at time He replaced every ugly emotion with His love and peace and finally….forgiveness. When God was done He sent His Ministering Angels to surround my bed and they spoke to me of love, tenderness and true acceptance of all mankind. Ever since then, I’ve been really sensitive to the presence of angelic beings.” She stopped to wipe away her tears for a moment.

  “So you have forgiven your husband for this?” he asked. Personally he didn’t think that was something he could do; he felt such anger at this man.

  Sherilyn nodded. “Yes, Gideon, I do forgive Lonnie. You see, I could have my anger and hate toward him and what he did to me, or I could have the peace, joy and love of God. I couldn’t have both at the same time; light and darkness cannot live in the same heart. When I realized that, it was an easy decision to forgive.”

  Gideon stood up. “I’ll let you rest now, Sherrilyn. I know you’re exhausted.”

  She reached out and grabbed his hand. “Oh, no, big guy! I can sleep tomorrow! I’m not about to let this chance slip away; I have a few questions for you.”

  Gideon laughed then sat back down and repeating her words, he said, “Sure, shoot, little lady.”

  The rest of the night Gideon answered question after question about Heaven, what it looked like, what she would and wouldn’t be able to do. He described his favorite place in Heaven, the Crystal Sea, and she sighed and said it sounded so wonderful. But He spoke to her mostly about the Lord. When she asked what He looked like, Gideon told her he didn’t know really, that His glory shone too brightly for anyone to look directly at His face until all the saints were brought home, but that the Lord was very approachable and loving and he liked to laugh.

  Sherrilyn smiled and nodded. “I knew He had to have a sense a humor!”

  Finally as he was telling her a funny story about Gabriel and Michael trying to best each other in a race from one side of heaven to another, he looked over at her and she was sound asleep….He covered her up and left the room, going first to check on Charlie and Sabrina, then he looked in on Catherine. All were sleeping soundly.

  He went to walk around the grounds of the estate, ending up at the large coy pond in the back. He sat down on the grass and watched the swans lazily glide about in circles doing what swans do. He lay back and looked up at the night sky. It was filled with stars and the moon wasn’t quite up yet. He could faintly make out its glow. He simply could not imagine going through what Sherrilyn went through and coming out such a beautiful person. Her inner beauty shone through so much that after a few minutes in her presence, you just stopped seeing her poor, mangled body. He knew that what he was actually seeing was the Spirit of the Lord coming out -- in His presence there isn’t anything ugly or deformed. It is all beauty. He lay there until the sun started to rise in the eastern sky; then he got up and went inside. Today was Catherine’s wedding day and he knew the ladies were going to be crazy busy.

  The gazebo was where the wedding was going to take place; it was already beautiful, covered in the white, pink and yellow roses and ivy. They set out white chairs on either side to create an aisle and placed two baskets of green ferns mixed with white baby’s breath on each side where they would be standing. It was simply elegant and lovely without a lot of fuss.

  Catherine was a vision, dressed in an ivory tea-length gown with a scooped neckline covered in an overlay of sheer lace that was pale amber. She wore her light brown hair swept up in a loose knot with a few tendrils hanging down on her shoulders and around her face. She had slipped a few stems of the baby’s breath on one side of the knot. She was glowing with happiness. Her cheeks were flushed and her pretty blue eyes sparkled, so her makeup was very light. Just a sweep of mascara and a sheer pink lip gloss was all she needed to look stunning.

  She was standing in her room with Sabrina and Sherrilyn and little Charlie, who in Gideon’s opinion stole the show. The toddler was dressed in a white eyelet sundress with a small cape to cover her bare arms and shoulders. She wore white sandals with bows on the ankle straps, and her strawberry blonde curls were held in place by a wide lace headband. She was the prettiest thing Gideon had ever seen in his whole existence! She made his heart hurt to look at her. Charlie’s mother, along with Sherrilyn, looked especially beautiful as well. The house was brimming with lovely ladies this morning.

  Catherine wasn’t nervous; she was excited to start her new life with Evan. She was so thankful to the Lord for bringing this darling man into her life. She kept looking at the clock, willing it to go faster until it was time for her to walk down the aisle to Evan.

  She looked at Sabrina. “I don’t have anyone to walk me down the aisle. Your grandfather did it the last time, I didn’t even think about this part…”

  Sabrina hugged her mother, “Well let’s just pray right now that your Heavenly Father will walk you down the aisle this time.” The ladies bowed their heads and prayed….

  Everyone had gathered around back. It was a small gathering of people, which surprised Gideon. He expected a huge crowd to watch the nuptials of Catherine Avila. It just showed how much she had changed. There were maybe twenty people sitting in the white lawn chairs. Evan looked tall and handsome in a pearl gray suit and tie. He, too, looked very happy, standing by the pastor who would perform the ceremony. The music started. They had chosen to use an instrumental of “Amazing Grace” instead of the traditional “Wedding March.”

  Sabrina came out first, holding Charlie, whom she was instructing to throw the pink rose petals on the ground. The crowd laughed softly when Charlie reached and chunked the flowers in heaps on the ground.

  A friend of Sherrilyn was sitting next to her, describing everything so she wouldn’t miss a thing. Sabrina made it down the aisle and turned and handed Charlie to Luke’s father who had flown in that morning for the wedding. Then everyone turned and waited for the bride.

  Catherine was taking deep breaths and trying to wait until it was her turn. She held the simple bouquet of white roses tied with pink and amber ribbons.

  “Oh, Lord, bless our marriage; help us to always put you first in our relationship. Help me to be the Christian wife you want me to be to Evan. Oh, Lord, I love him so much! Thank you for bringing him into my life!”

  She saw Sabrina reach the end of the aisle and hand Charlotte to her grandfather. It was finally time. She stepped out from behind the hedges where she was waiting and started walking toward her future.

  Halfway down, Gideon stepped up and walked her down the aisle until she reached the outstretched hand of her new husband.

  After the ceremony was over and the newlyweds had been ushered into a waiting car to start their news lives together, Gideon found Sherrilyn sitting in the sunroom alone. He walked up to t
he chair on her left and sat down.

  “Hey, big guy, that was beautiful, wasn’t it?” she asked. It still amazed him how she knew he was there, and it felt really nice to have someone to talk to. He would miss this when they had to leave.

  “Yes, it was very beautiful. They will be very happy together.”

  Sherrilyn laughed.” I like the way you said that, as a fact, like it is written or something.”

  Gideon smiled “Maybe it is.”

  She stopped smiling and turned to him. “Gideon, will I find someone to love me like that, even with all my scars and my blindness?” She sounded so wistful that Gideon’s heart ached for her.

  “Sherrilyn, I can’t see the future if that’s what you’re asking me. I don’t know what God’s plans are for you exactly. But I can promise you this -- as long as you trust in the Lord and keep Him foremost in your life, your future and whatever it holds will be wonderful.” She nodded then put her head down and cried, but they were not sad tears, just tears of release and letting go….

  Chapter 13

  The next day they were packing and getting ready to catch the flight back home, much to Gideon’s dismay. Sabrina was putting the last of her toiletries into her bag when Sherrilyn rolled in to the bathroom. “I’m sure going to miss you. It’s been such a joy to have you and little Charlie in my home.”

  Sabrina looked up from her packing. “Charlie? Did you give my daughter a nickname?” she laughed.

  “Nope, I sure didn’t; that came from someone else. But I’ll leave it at that before I say too much and let cats out that aren’t mine to turn loose.” Sherrilyn rolled closer to Sabrina. “Honey, just know that you and Charlotte are in very good hands and you are protected at all times. You don’t have anything to fear, you hear me?”

  Sabrina hugged her new friend. “I think I already knew that...” she whispered.

  The flight back home was just as terrible as the flight out there. Gideon could not understand how a mighty warrior such as himself, who had fought untold numbers of demons and could fly at the speed of sound himself, could get air sickness. He moaned and rolled out of the seat when the flight was over, vowing he would do whatever it took to make sure Sabrina took a bus, train or automobile the next time she went anywhere.

  Sabrina walked back into her home with a heavy heart. She couldn’t be happier for her mother, but it seemed to highlight what was missing in her own life. She still missed Luke with every breath, and countless times a day she would turn to tell him something only to remember he wasn’t there. How she wished he could be here to watch his daughter grow! Charlotte was an absolute joy to be with, but sometimes Sabrina longed for the companionship of her husband.

  The little things were what she missed the most. Piling up on the couch together and watching silly movies, listening to Luke mimic the actor’s voices perfectly, and then adding his own lines to the scene would have Sabrina’s sides aching from laughter. Waking up on Saturday mornings and being able to lie in bed and cuddle because they didn’t have to get up, then sometimes eating breakfast and going back to bed to love away the afternoon…Just having someone to come home to, to tell about her day or to vent over something that had her feeling snarly, feeling his arm around her shoulders as they sat in church. She just missed him! She still felt married. She still wore her wedding ring and didn’t know if she would ever feel comfortable removing it. They had been married less than a year, but her life had settled quickly into being joined with his.

  She thought back to when they met in college. He was in his last year and she had just started. Luke was so smart he was actually able to advance to some of the next year’s courses. The first time she saw Luke he was in the Deans’ office, and she thought he was a young teacher. She hoped she didn’t get any of his classes because she thought he was so handsome she would never be able to concentrate. Then later when she saw him actually in the class and not teaching it, she thought he must be a bit slow. He looked too old to be taking that particular class. After keeping her eye on him for a few weeks she decided he wasn’t slow or too old. He just looked older than he really was. Turned out he was only a couple years older than she.

  A friend of his approached Sabrina one day and asked if she would be interested in going out with Luke. She said only if Luke asked her himself. She waited all day for Luke to approach her. When he didn’t, she decided the friend must have been mistaken or was just being mean. Later that week outside advanced chemistry, she literally ran into Luke.

  She had her head down trying to see if her shoes were untied when she slammed into a warm body. Luke’s strong hands grabbed her arms and kept her from falling flat on her face! She could feel herself turn eight shades of red when she looked up into his hazel eyes.

  “Whoa! Careful there, blue eyes; you’ve got to look both ways before crossing a hall.”

  Sabrina laughed. “Sorry, I was trying to see if my shoes were untied so I wouldn’t trip and instead I run over people!”

  Luke glanced down at her sneakered feet, and then dropped down; she could feel him tugging on the laces as he tied them. He patted her left foot and stood up.

  “Ok, there you go, doubled knotted so no worries about future head-on collisions. I am glad we ran into each other. I’ve been trying to get my nerve up to ask you out face to face since you shot down my friend’s request.”

  Sabrina hoped her face wouldn’t be stained this shade of red forever, because she could feel it burning again. “I’m sorry, I just wanted to be sure that you really did want to ask me out.” She couldn’t even look at him she was so embarrassed. Luke stopped and nudged her chin to look up at him.

  “Hey, it was my poor manners to ask like that anyway; you were right to want me to ask you myself. I’m sorry, Sabrina, for being too gutless to approach you. That being said, I would be honored to take you out to dinner or to a movie if you would be interested.”

  Her eyes shining, “Yes, I would like that, Luke.”

  The next Friday night Luke picked her up at her dorm; he held open the truck door and actually had fresh flowers for her. It was so romantic! They went out to an Italian restaurant that was near campus; Sabrina hadn’t dined anywhere recently that didn’t have the menu on a board behind the cashier, so this was a refreshing change for her.

  On the table were candles and a vase of fresh white roses; the lighting was low and intimate. Sabrina felt a little underdressed in her jeans and buttoned-down pink shirt. Luke seemed to think she looked just fine though; he couldn’t keep his eyes off of her.

  They chatted all through dinner and they both decided they would rather take a long walk and talk some more rather than the see the movie he had bought tickets for. Sabrina had felt so at ease with Luke. He had a wonderful sense of humor and he treated her like a princess. She figured it was all an act and sooner or later the “real “Luke would show up. No one was this nice! When he brought her back to her dorm, they sat in the truck for a few minutes. This is where he will make his move, Sabrina thought.

  Luke walked around the truck and opened her door for her and walked her to the door of her dormitory. He wasn’t allowed inside, so they had to say their goodbyes at the door of the front lobby. “I really enjoyed being with you, Sabrina,” Luke said.

  “I had a really good time, too.” Sabrina said. She waited for him to move in to kiss her; instead he lifted her left hand and kissed her knuckles.

  “I’ll say goodnight, Miss Avila, and if you would do me the honor, I would like to see you again.”

  Sabrina just nodded, she was so surprised at the hand kissing thing!

  Luke smiled then said, “I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning for church, if that’s ok.”

  Sabrina felt her hopes plummet…so this is what was wrong with him -- he was a Jesus fanatic! “Well, I’m sorry, Luke, but I can’t go tomorrow; I have plans,” she lied.

  He couldn’t stop the look of disappointment that crossed his face. “That’s ok, maybe another time then?”

&n
bsp; Sabrina nodded then he walked back to his truck and she watched his taillights until they faded from view…

  Over the next few weeks Luke kept his distance; he wasn’t rude or anything. He just didn’t ask her out again. She waited to see if he was going out with other girls, but he wasn’t. She found herself practically stalking the guy! He was so different... Everyone seemed to like him. She had asked several different people about him both male and female, and no one really had a bad word to say about him.

  “What about the church thing? “She asked his friend Randall.

  Randall laughed. “What about it?”

  “Well, is he super churchy or what?”

  Randall finally sat down on a bench and patted the space beside him. “I’m not sure what it is exactly that you’re asking me, Sabrina, but I’m just going to lay it out there like this. Luke is a Christian. He has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. He goes to church every Sunday and he does practice what he preaches. He is the most real and honest person I know. He is the one that led me to Christ.”

  Sabrina looked at him. “I’m not sure what that means,” she admitted.

  Randall was silent for a minute. “Before I gave my heart to Christ, I was just your typical college kid, doing my thing, you know? I was after the girls and the parties and all that came with it. Luke was there with us but not ‘with’ us.” He sighed… “I’m sorry; I know I’m not making sense. Let me explain it like this. Luke would go to the parties and would have a good time, but he wouldn’t drink or have casual sex with the girls or anything like that. He was there but not participating in all the activities. He seemed so content in himself that he drew me to him. I asked him what his deal was.”